laid back days

At left, Pippi, of course, but on her sewing room perch. She still likes the bedroom one best but at the moment is doozing atop my pillows---smart girl, she is on the softer one. If you look close you can see the backyards of the subdivision. Not much of a view past those overgrown bushes.

Not a lot going on around here. I guess I am still in holiday mode in a way and just doing some handwork on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The sampler quilt is parked on the sewing table all neatly folded and inviting for kitty snoozes---it is not going anywhere. I really have NOT been in the mood to wrestle with it. It's my quilt, there is no rush for completion. Not like the commissioned quilts and facing a deadline where I had to push myself through those when I was sick for two plus weeks. Now I can kick back and take it easy before the donation quilts push start up again in a couple weeks.

DJ and I had a nice Christmas meal---leftover ham is in the freezer for some future meals but ground up for ham loaf and chunked up for omelets, breakfast pizza, whatever. I made Ham Scrap Casserole for supper and promised to make something that DIDN"T contain ham tomorrow night, LOL.

We watched some holiday themed movies two nights in a row. It is rare for me to sit/stay out in the living room for long. He put a brighter bulb in the lamp and moved it to a better position so I could work on my hand stitching. It is hard for me to just SIT---I feel like I am wasting time. It is rare too that we could agree on what to watch---his tastes run to sports and action/drama movies but he was good and didn't do a lot of channel surfing in between on the one we watched on commercial TV.

This is what I have been working on--the bluework snowmen. A redwork list that I co-own had gotten permission to use these blocks this past year if we handstitched them. They are still available online HERE but are meant to done by machine. Norma and I are going to challenge each other to make these this next year. I had the January one done already and teeny bit of the February one done. Obviously it is finished now and I finished the March one this morning. I prepped the rest of the blocks for the year yesterday. The blocks will be trimmed down from the 11 1/2 inch squares that they are at present. I had to laugh when I went to print May through December. Out it came page length high--enough time had elapsed that I had forgotten that I had told the printer to print at a height of 8 inches and scaled the width in proportion to it.

Before I had started back to quilting my 30's sampler I had thought about getting this little Santa redwork
finished up. It just needs a pieced border done but obviously I made a different choice of what I wanted to work on. Now I am starting to think of other options. In May I had finished Betsy' adapted Oxmoor house Christmas quilt top but I also have one of my own started that I had also redesigned in EQ. At the moment I am leaning towards possibly combining these two projects into my version of that quilt. It is a combination of all different sized blocks and techniques. Why not??
The feathered star block was the original one I was going to pass around for the round robin. I substituted the fall themed one and set this aside for my own use. I can see using this instead of the Memory block or another Christmas star. Or not, LOL.

I am narrowing down my Top 12 choices of personal projects that I would like to move along this year--hopefully one a month. Depending on which one I chose, it could putting borders on and pinning the top, completing the quilting, finishing the top to "flimsy" stage. I've got 10 listed so far and maybe that is a more realistic number knowing me.

If I don't post again before we leave for our family gathering in Tennessee, I wish all of you the best of everything in 2007. Happy New Year!

Christmas pics

Navity set made by my mom

Lights in the Brookwood Subdivision Anniston, AL

More lights

House off Saks Road--jam packed with stuff as is the house next door. Sometimes the other houses have no lights as their neighbor lights things up enough for the whole neighborhood, it would seem.

House a few blocks from us---surprised that you can't see if from here, LOL

Brookwood again--I was trying to show how they light up the curbing too--almost like an airport runway

Brookwood subdivision again--somehow the lights look golden --actually are mainly little white lights

Seasons Greetings!

A friend sent this in an email along with a poem--good ol Maxine! I don't have any quilting pictures to show but we did set up the Nativity set today. Maybe I'll get a shot of that for next post. Still, Happy Holidays to all my readers out there in Bloggerland.

I took yesterday and today off from quilting with 5 more blocks of my 30 block sampler to go. The ones that are left are at the dead center of the quilt and harder to get at. My back, shoulders, wrists and elbows are thanking me for the reprieve, LOL. It's my own personal quilt and it has waited this long, after all. Oh, for a picture of the completed top I had to go back to June of this year but it can be viewed HERE. I told you that my own stuff gets pushed to the back burner.

So what have I been doing? Playing too many games of Superior Canfield on the computer but I have also been working through some of the lessons in the EQ6 book. Since I have owned versions 4 and 5 prior to this, some of it is review but it is helping me to be more familiar with the new set up and some of the improvements they have made in the program. I'm up to patch draw now and I have to admit that I haven't done much of that but then I don't often applique either. Just for practice in drawing and working with EQ I had once drawn up all the small blocks in the Dear Jane book so there was a little bit involved there--not the triangular pieced blocks though. Think I have lost what remaining marbles I had left??? Later I bought the Dear Jane CD when it was released and sold my book.

DJ finally got a haircut, Pippi nailed the curtains and her perch in the bedroom when she got sick yesterday so some laundry......a whole lot of nothing, in other words. Thinking about the holiday menu for Monday and egg nog lattes. I am enjoying listening to Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music on the computer media player. Later tonight DJ and I plan to drive around in our area and look at the Christmas lights. One subdivision near the golf course decorates everything in white lights including the curbing---it is just gorgeous so we will probably head over there and passed a couple of houses nearby that really are jam packed with displays.

It is pretty quiet out in bloggerland, no doubt because people may be traveling or preparing for the big weekend events. No snow in Alabama to make it a white Christmas but that is all right with me. We have had a couple of moist gray days with some rain last night instead. Word is that there was an accident down near the mall this morning with a fatality--that place is an accident waiting to happen even without wet and slick roads. Sad.

Be careful out there.

Tuesday check in

I took two days off from any piecing and quilting but couldn't quite decide just what I wanted to work on---ah, too many choices. I thought about finishing up my Santa redwork piece that has hung in the sewing room for so long it has become part of the landscape. (Dec. 99 APQ mag if you got it in your library) All it needs is the pieced border, after all. Nope, don't feel like dealing with little bitty sew and then cut HST's. Next though--some 7 inch pineapple log cabin blocks that I piddle with every once in a while---scrappy and a good choice for the odd bits and strips. Nope, I like foundation piecing but just not quite in the mood for that either. Odd since I would rather piece.

You can see what I ended up doing but with some obstacles, LOL. Pippi was up on the quilt and testing it out before it hits the bed at some point---not once but twice. Since then she has been cycling around the room---on the project basket, on her OWN quilt on the cutting/pressing table and now on her perch. I had quilted a few blocks some time back and set the whole thing aside to do, I don't remember, but in the meantime it has stayed parked on top of the armoire. I counted up the status when I quit for the night---15 of 30 blocks are quilted but I think I might go back and do a tad of hand quilting in some of the block centers. The 4 inch block at center of a few of the blocks is begging for a little flower or something and I probably will hand quilt the cable around the outside edge that I would like to do----or NOT, LOL. I want this on the bed sometime!! So does the cat apparently.

I delivered the 3 commissioned quilts this morning and ran several errands before coming home just before lunch. Vaughn had gotten a couple of large gift bags to put the SEC quilts in so I helped him get the right quilt in the right bag and gave him a suggestion on how to add the tissue paper around them. He called the office staff in to see the quilts laid out on the conference room table. This was interesting to me when we got to the t-shirt quilt since I got a little more of the stories behind the shirts. I had commented that he must have been saving them for this day most of his son's life since they ranged from child's small to adult medium to large--from little league clear up to high school activities and interests. I guess this is total surprise for the young man---apparently he did not realize that his shirts were missing yet.

So it was fun going around the webrings and other friend's blogs yesterday and catching up---everyone getting ready for the holidays, be it Christmas or Hannukah. I never did get around to putting any decorations up but I'm okay with that. Not sending any Christmas cards either or doing any baking. No shopping as we don't exchange gifts and the adults opted out of the Christmas drawing some years ago. DJ takes care of his own cards and whatever he does for her grandson. Children are what make the holidays fun--seeing the excitement and wonder in their eyes. It will be a special day because I am spending it with DJ and will make us a special meal.

I am excited about getting together with my family for our family gathering and crossing my fingers that the weather behaves itself. My brother, sister-in-law and niece have invited us all to Tennessee the weekend after next. We have quite a few of the family in the medical related field so it has always been a juggling act to get the hospital shift workers schedules to mesh. I used to be one of them. Then one sister and I moved out of state and now, one brother. DJ has agreed to go along with me---boy, he better!! Pippi will be okay with a full bowl of food and fresh water when we leave. Might appreciate us more when we get home too.

Guess that's about it for now----

free at last

I took the last stitches in the three commissioned quilts yesterday at about 2:30. I knew that I wanted to get a picture of the T-shirt quilt and had a batting roll to deliver to the church along with our hanging pole set up so off I went to our meeting place. OH OH. Something was going on in the fellowship hall but some cars were leaving as I pulled up so I thought that I had come 12 plus miles and wasn't going to turn back around. Of course, I was not dressed for company--sweat pants and an old baggie shirt, ponytail, no makeup--I hadn't really planned on leaving the house, after all.

They were all busy taking group pictures by that time and I snuck into the closet with our supplies so I don't know that anyone spotted me coming in. The first person I talked to said they were celebrating someone's 100th birthday and pointed me to the one in charge. Could I lay out my quilt since I had already driven that far and get a picture quick?? Sure, she says. Unfortunately, my batteries had just run out-----argh. I gotta start either carrying a new set of batteries in my purse or get a 2nd set that I can recharge. One of the fellows there took pity and took a couple shots of it for me (bless you, Mike!!) and emailed them to me this morning. Some of the ladies came over to see what I had laid out on the floor. See below.

Judy asked what the problem had been that I had to re-do sections of the t-shirt quilt binding sewn on by the longarmer. First, I don't know if this is standard practice for a long armer but it was trimmed off right to the edge. When I machine quilt I leave at least an inch of the batting, backing all around before I put on the binding. Then I don't have to worry about the two layers shifting as I stitch around the outside. She is in the habit of putting the binding on the back and pulling it to the front and machine stitching it down so I had to tell her how to do the mitered corners and have her apply it the OPPOSITE of what she normally would feel comfortable doing. SO what happened, there were several places were the top pulled away from the edges and the binding did not catch---raw fabric exposed. The biggest problem was the big pleats one side. I was taught to do this with the walking foot on--makes sense to me as it "quilts" the edge. She did not but as I said, she may have had a machine with the differential feed built in. I had to cut the binding apart and add in a section to make up about an inch to inch and 1/2 of the quilt---just wasn't good BUT it is fixed now. All three of the quilts will be delivered Tuesday at 10.

Today I took the day off from any stitching, hand or machine, and concentrated on doing my Home Extension and Bama Belles treasury job. Push a little paper around and deal with the piled up mail. Stayed up way too late last night reading a new to me author Jennifer Crusie Bet Me Our public library has a couple other titles by her so I'll track another book down when I go in for quilt delivery date. Just going to kick back and spend a quiet evening--maybe give DJ that haircut I told to NOT even think about with all that binding hanging over my head last week. Errands tomorrow and maybe get busy on finishing up my Santa redwork piece---or not, LOL.

Friday check in/replies

Wahoo, done with all three of the quilts except for inserting the labels. I just got the email with the text that goes on those, prepared the document and printed it. The literature varies on how long you need to let the ink set up but I'll give it till tomorrow afternoon before it hits the Bubble Jet Rinse. We set the delivery date and time as well. By now I am mightily sick of binding--never my favorite part of the process to begin with--and to spend the better part of 5 days time doing it? Well, the best part is that it is almost done. It will be so nice to have my life back instead of nose to the grindstone with deadline stuff.

As I was pressing back the binding on the t-shirt quilt I spotted some areas that needed to be taken apart and re-done--most of the first side actually and some other smaller spots on all but one side. I told DJ this at lunch yesterday and got a rather odd reaction. Like killing the messenger?? "Why do you let people do the work if they aren't going to do it right and you have to fix it?" HUH??? She is a professional quilter so I didn't think I would HAVE to. She didn't use a walking foot but maybe her machine had one built into it--some do. I guess all that bellyaching about the round robin debacle carried over or something.

Because the t-shirt quilt is almost a king, I got a brain storm to make more room to spread the thing out so I could work on the binding. I took the machine out of the sewing table and cleared all the sewing toys off of it. I turned it around for face the bookshelves so I could keep the attached light source to my left and then use desk light to my left and be seated directly below the over head light. Dark charcoal gray binding is NOT easy on the eyes. I put the forward table in front of it so help hold the quilt and still had the desk to the right for support as well. Actually reversed the whole thing from the direction I face when I quilt. Could even see the TV for a change and watched a couple of the ones I had DVR'd as I worked yesterday.




Amy, I don't know where Judy got her quilt hanger but it is entirely possible that her husband rigged this up for her. He is one of the those fellows that can do about anything he sets his mind to--carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding, etc etc etc. I will ask her though next time I see her.

Conray is the one that we put to work trying to figure out what to do about a hanging method for the group quilts. Not that I am tired of them wearing tennis shoes and feet and/or hands sticking out as one of the Belles joked. It would be nice to have them hang straight, LOL. I've got a 6 foot bar in my car along with some curtain type rings with a clip similiar to what Judy used on her quilt to take over to the church along with a big roll of batting. (I'm heading over next week so I can get a shot of the commissioned quilts on the floor there. ) We can set the whole deal over the doorway and open and close them as needed to accomodate all but the widest of quilts. Those will probably have us standing on chairs and taking cockeyed quilt pictures still.

Veronica had asked if I would post the recipe for my quick and easy Mulligatawny Soup. Be happy to! I love soup! We have soup and stews a lot, even in the summer if it "sounds" good and the house is not roasting. I think it is one of the best things I make. Depending on what it is, I don't enjoy chasing the contents around in a bunch of liquid and make them fairly thick. LOL, DJ says if I were cooking for a restaurant, we would go broke serving it that way but fortunately it is just the two of us and enough for several servings and often something for the freezer. Poor guy had a can of chunky soup one evening while I was gone and not cooking--he told me how spoiled he had become for my homemade stuff. Off hand compliment.
Because it calls for about 2 cups or so of cooked diced chicken meat, you might want to consider using leftover turkey instead for a post holiday meal. (I used a rotisserie chicken because all of mine was rock hard frozen and this was a last minute meal) Most ingredients are probably something that you are already have on hand. I didn't really measure anything but the seasoning when I made this. Add more water if you need it and like yours thinner.
EASY MULLIGATAWNY

2 cans of chicken broth
1 can of water
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped--I use Granny Smiths for the tartness plus they don't mush down
1 14-0z. can of diced tomatoes, with the liquid
a couple of carrots peeled and sliced or chopped--about a cup
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup long grain rice (not Minute Rice), uncooked
1/4 cup raisins
1 tbsp of snipped fresh cilantro or parsley---dehydrated parsley works fine but use a bit more
1 teaspoon or more of curry powder
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coriander (optional)
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked chopped or diced chicken
(probably don't need any salt--with the broth and if you use rotis. chicken)

Combine all but the cooked meat in a large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir in the chicken to heat through. Makes 4 to 8 servings depending on whether it is a side dish or meal serving.

Christmas party, part 2

A few more pictures to share from the Christmas party. Judy's home was decorated for the holidays and the tables set beautifully in the "sunporch" that overlooks the woods and the lake. Each place setting had a pomander (picture below) for us to take home matching the gold charger and the gold colored floral piece that she had fastened around it for a napkin (cloth) ring. I should have taken a picture of the tables! Fresh rose floral arrangements on all the tables too.

Judy had purchased this cute arrangement at craft sale---set up on a man's cane

The tomato cage Santa that she found last year--I was trying to tell Mel about this around Halloween so will need to direct her over here to see this. Every quilter should have one of these!!

The pomanders (I've got Linda S's too--yum smell with the cloves)

Jane in the foreground with Judy's "Monticello" quilt in the back---Jinny Beyer pattern

Pippi playing with the tissue paper around a gift Aline had given me

And, the contents of said package, LOL once she got off the package

The "little kitty" nest is set up with one of the SEC quilts that I had completed along with towel covering it. Mostly this is to give her a spot to lay which in NOT on the one I was working on. Spoiled rotten kitty! I can be delusional and think it is on MY terms. Both SEC's are now done except for the opening left for the label---I need to call him to finalize the text for the t-shirt quilt so I can print all three at once.

Veronica, I'll post the mulligatawny recipe on my next post. It would be good with turkey too so might be a good post-holiday meal when you are trying to come up with alternative ways to use the leftovers.